Community Odour Monitoring Program App Launches

October 4, 2017

WBEA launches Community Odour Monitoring Program app to research odours in the RMWB.

Fort McMurray, Alberta – The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) has launched an app that allows community members to report information about the odours they experience in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

The app was designed as part of the WBEA’s Community Monitoring Program (COMP), which seeks to gain a better understanding of how odour events in the region relate to ambient air quality. The app is allows community members to submit information about ambient odours as they experience them. This information is then submitted to a database, which will be compared to the ambient air data collected at the WBEA’s 25 ambient air monitoring stations located throughout the region.

Sanjay Prasad, WBEA Executive Director, explains, “Our aim with this program and the COMP app is to determine if there are any relationships or trends that can be identified by looking at the pollutants in air samples collected at the same time and location when an odour was present. This will help us to better understand the make-up and frequency of odours experienced in our region,”

The COMP program will run until March 31, 2018. At that time, the data submitted will be analyzed and a report will be produced. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices and can be downloaded, free-of-charge, from the App Store or Google Play.

Visit www.wbea.org/apps for more information and to download the app.

The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) is an independent, community based, not-for-profit organization that monitors the air in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is done through a variety of air, land and odour monitoring programs. The air quality information collected is openly shared with stakeholders and the public. The WBEA is a working partner of the Environmental Monitoring and Science Division of Alberta Environment and Parks.